Abstract
Gain and loss of bacterial pathogenicity is often associated with mobile genetic elements. A novel insertion sequence (IS) element designated ISSa4 was identified in Streptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococci). The 963bp IS element is flanked by 25bp perfect inverted repeats and led to the duplication of a 9bp target sequence at the insertion site. ISSa4 contains one open reading frame coding for a putative transposase of 287 aa and exhibits closest similarities to insertion elements of the IS982 family which has previously not been identified in streptococci. Analysis of different S. agalactiae strains showed that the copy number of ISSa4 in S. agalactiae varies significantly between strains. The S. agalactiae strain with the highest copy number of ISSa4 was nonhemolytic and harbored one copy inserted in cylB, which encodes the membrane-spanning domain of the putative hemolysin transporter (Spellerberg et al., 1999. Identification of genetic determinants for the hemolytic activity of Streptococcus agalactiae by ISS1 transposition. J. Bacteriol. 181, 3212-3219). Determination of the distribution of ISSa4 in different S. agalactiae strains revealed that ISSa4 could be detected only in strains isolated after 1996, which might indicate a recent acquisition of this novel insertion element by S. agalactiae.
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